Nutmeg Award

What is the Nutmeg Award?

The Nutmeg Book Award encourages children in grades 4-12 to read quality literature and to choose their favorite from a list of ten nominated titles. Jointly sponsored by the Connecticut Library Association (CLA) and the Connecticut Assoiation of School Librarians (CASL), the Nutmeg Committee is comprised of children’s librarians and school library media specialists who are members of our sponsoring organizations.

2018 Teen Nutmeg Nominees (grades 7 & 8)

The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds

Matt is trying to cope with his mom’s death from cancer and his dad’s drinking. A job at a local funeral home gives him comfort and then he meets a girl, who helps him share his feelings. This is a story of growing from loss.

Full Cicada Moon by Marilyn Hilton

All Mimi wants is to be an astronaut, but being a female with Japanese and African-American parents in 1969 Vermont comes with its own challenges. As she makes new friends and overcomes the barriers around her, she realizes what is really important.

Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead

Three girls, who promised never to fight, have found their friendship tested. Will their friendship survive the trials of middle school and growing up?

I am Princess X by Cherie Priest

When they were young May and Libby created a princess together. When Libby died the princess died with her. Years later May starts seeing images of the princess around town. Could Libby still be alive?

I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora

In honor of their recently deceased teacher a group of friends hatch a plot to popularize the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by creating a controversy surrounding the novel. Their efforts

The Last Boy at St. Edith’s by Lee Gjertsen Malone

There used to be 27 boys at St. Edith’s Academy, but over time all but one left leaving Jeremy the only boy out of 475 students! In desperation, Jeremy pulls a series of pranks in hopes of getting expelled so he can go to school with his friends.

The Novice by Taran Matharu

When Fletcher accidentally summons a Familiar, he is forced to leave his home to attend The Academy where he is taught how to use his powers.

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt

Trying to escape his past, Joseph is trying to find his future. Can Jack and his family help Joseph find a home on their family farm? Will Joseph find the one thing from his past that he is looking for?

The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall

After his father’s death Arthur throws a brick at the local “Junk Man” when he sees him wearing his father’s favorite hat. He is sentenced to community service working with the Junk Man to complete his mysterious project.

Thirteen Chairs by Dave Shelton

Thirteen souls at a table, each with a tale to tell. Are you brave enough to pull up a chair?

2018 High School Nutmeg Nominees (grades 9-12)

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

Willowdean Dickson is not your typical beauty queen. Living in Clover City, a town that is home to one of the oldest beauty pageants in Texas, and with a former beauty queen for a mother, Willowdean navigates being a “fat girl” in this world with humor, confidence, and a lot of sass. When that confidence in herself is shaken, Willowdean decides participating in the pageant is the only way to get her confidence back. With help from an unlikely group of contestants and Dolly Parton, Willowdean embarks on a journey that will change how she and her town define what makes a beauty queen beautiful.

Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

Finding and delivering hard to come by goods for friends and neighbors in 1943 German-occupied Amsterdam is the business that Hanneke is good at. Finding a missing Jewish girl becomes Hanneke’s passion, putting her in the crosshairs of the Nazis.

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

If you could erase your memories would you? What if you could change who you are. Aaron wants to change his life to become someone new, and a new medical procedure is available to allow him to do just that. But can he really escape who and what he is?

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Darrow, a sixteen-year-old in humanity’s Red caste, willingly spends his days in the mines of Mars, certain that his work is necessary to terraform the planet’s surface. After being caught in a forbidden area, however, his life is torn apart, and he discovers the truth about the caste system he was forced into: the planet’s surface was terraformed long ago, and the Red caste is nothing more than slave labor for the others inhabiting the surface.

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Mikey, Jared, Mel, and Henna just want to get through high school. They suffer through the usual teen experiences – jealousy, unrequited love, term papers – but they have also fought zombies and fallen in love with vampires (not your usual high school experience). Now, they have to face another challenge: one of them is “the chosen one.”

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Simon is a sixteen-year-old boy who is gay, but not quite ready to tell the whole world. When an email falls into the wrong hands he worries his secret may not remain a secret for long. Now Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone and tell the truth before he alienates himself from friends or loses his shot with his mysterious crush.

Traffick by Ellen Hopkins

Traffick show the reader the world of human trafficking, prostitution, and drug addiction as experienced by five teenagers. Is there a way out?

The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith

Eden is a quiet fourteen year old band nerd who just entered into her freshman year of high school. But everything changes the night a family friend rapes her and threatens to kill her if she tells anyone. Eden keeps it a secret and finds herself acting out to avoid dealing with the pain. The book follows Eden through four years in high school as she tries to deal with what happened and the way she used to be.

We Are the Ants by Shaun Davidson

The aliens have given Henry 144 days to decide whether life on Earth is worth keeping around. Given the state his own life is in, he’s not so sure. The love of his life has committed suicide, his clueless older brother is going to be a teen father, his grandmother is sinking deeper and deeper into a fog of Alzheimer’s. But on the other hand, there’s Diego…

X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon

X is a novelized telling of the growing up years of Malcolm Little/Malcolm X. His father murdered and his mother put into a mental institution, young Malcolm (an A student) goes to live with his sister in Boston. There he takes to the world of drinking, drugs, and hustling, and eventually to prison.